On 25-26 October 2022, the Georgian Central Election Commission (CEC) hosted the 10th Annual Meeting of Representatives of Election Management Bodies. This international conference was co-organised with the support of the Council of Europe and the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES). Election officials from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Latvia, Lithuania and the Republic of Moldova, discussed challenges related to securing transparency, inclusiveness and integrity of electoral practices in a digital era. At the conference, representatives from India, Colombia and central Asia also shared their experience.

Giorgi Kalandarishvili, CEC Chairperson, Levan Ioseliani, Deputy Chairperson of the Parliament of Georgia, Natalia Voutova, Head of the Council of Europe Office in Georgia and David Hoffman, Deputy Director of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) delivered opening remarks, underlying the importance of conducting free and fair elections in the context of emerging challenges - for the benefit of Georgian citizens.

At the conference, representatives from election management bodies exchanged views, experience, lessons learnt and steps forward related to introducing digital solutions and combating disinformation in electoral processes.

The Council of Europe promotes regional cooperation and will further support platforms to facilitate dialogue among representatives of election management bodies of its member States. Peer-to-peer exchange proved to be an effective instrument to propose solutions and respond to global challenges that Council of Europe member States face in electoral practices.

The conference was co-organised within the framework of the Council of Europe Project ‘Supporting Transparency, Inclusiveness and Integrity of Electoral Practice and Process in Georgia’.